Sing all the things that worlds
have wrought, O the force of redemption, friend or foe, good
or evil, safe or wrong, when will we take up in His love our
loyalty? ♪ When Christ is come ♪ ♪ Praise
to Thee by Your mercy ♪ ♪ Oh, how I need Your mercy ♪ ♪ Oh,
how I need Your grace, O God ♪ ♪ Oh, how I need Your mercy
♪ ♪ When Christ is come ♪ I hope you can. I hope everyone
in here can see that him with conviction. I say the word. It's a preaching by Fanny Crosby,
a woman born blind. The roadside at 3 p.m. on the
27th. Thanks world. It is me, the Lord
Jesus Christ, my pastor. Go with me, first of all, in
Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one. The title
of this message is Overcome or Overcoming. Overcome or Overcoming. But nevertheless, perhaps every
fifth message is thought about today. a little more reproof
for you and exhortation. Remember, when you study that,
Paul told young Timothy, preach the Word, all of it, all Scripture
is proper, all of it, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. And he goes on to say, I think
this is the message we all need. I know it. Any message I bring
to you, I need it. I need it. We all need it. Good evening, Chapter 1. Let's
see. As I said, the title of this
message is Overcome or Overcoming. We read that in 1 John 5. It
was needed to overcome us. And this is so important because
the greatest danger that we face is professing believers. Everyone in this room professes
to believe. to believe the truth. Well, the
greatest danger that protesting believers face is being overcome
by this world, being overcome by this world.
Salvation is this, Galatians 1 verse 4. This is salvation,
that Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us from this present evil. And that's salvation. We've been
studying how the Israelites are being taken out of Egypt. That is their salvation, because
God is going to destroy Egypt. And so their salvation is redemption. Their life is to bring them out
of Egypt. He said that, I will bring you
out of Egypt. Go with me to 2 Timothy 4. 2
Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy 4. So salvation is to be delivered
from this presence. What did he call it? What kind
of work? Evil work. Okay? Apostasy. Most people in here know what
apostasy is. That means falling away from
the faith, renouncing the faith, making a confession of faith
that can lead you. That's apostasy. That's the sin,
John, that John was talking about, a sin unto death. That's what
that is, apostasy. And that cannot be recited. The
person cannot be recited. We know people like that. Nothing
you ever say or do is going to bring them back. And it's all
just a show of religion. Well, what is it that makes a
person do that? Look at 2 Timothy 4, verse 10. having loved this person. And there it is. All right? And let's get it. Is this an
important message? I told everyone Sunday morning to make a special
effort this time. I had a burden. And I'm glad
for those who are here to grieve over those who aren't. But salvation. is to be delivered
from this present evil world. Apostasy, to fall away, is to
love the world, remember lots of life. It's the shortest verse
in all the Scriptures, but the most striking and full of meaning. Remember lots of life. Well, now go back to the first
John. The first John is our text, the
first John. Now, listen, we're going to talk
about the Word now, what it means to be overcome by the Word, or
overcome the Word, overcoming the Word. All right? Seventy-seven
times in the Gospel of John is mentioned the Word. One time, he speaks of the world and the
love of God. John Christensen. All right?
One time. Seventy-six times. It's negative,
it's condemnation, it's warning, it's wrath, it's nothing good
at all said about the world. 77 times the word was mentioned
in the Gospel of John. Always negative, always dangerous,
always a warning. 19 times in our Lord's Prayer,
I quoted this to a preacher brother, and he said, I didn't realize
that. Nineteen times our Lord mentions
a word in a prayer to the Father, in praying for His people, in
asking the Father to keep them from wrongdoing. Nineteen times
our Lord says this. Makes no difference. Nineteen
times. Twenty-three times. In 1 John,
he mentions the Word. Almighty. Almighty. Almighty. Pretty important. The Word. The Word. Alright,
what is the Word? What is the Word? Look at 1 John
2. 1 John 2. Verse 15 and 16. What is the Word? I said, love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. There's two distinctions there,
isn't there? The world and the things in the world. Read on.
If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. Boy, that's pretty serious, isn't
it? Ooh, Lord, I'm going to love
this world. I'm going to be like Jesus. Love
is the place of the world. Bring on love for all that is
in the world, all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but it's of the world, and the world passes away. Well, what is the world? Chapter
Four, 1 John 4. We saw there that the world is
the things of the world. Ways of the world, the world,
opinions, thoughts, opinions, pursuits, desires, material things,
things of the world. And 1 John 4, verse 4 and 5,
ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. He's
talking about false preachers in the world, because greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are
of the world. Therefore speak they of the world,
and the world heareth thee." Something about people. People. So what you have, basically,
in the Word, is people and things. People and things. That's what
makes up the Word. And you've heard me say this
many times, or quote our Lord anyway, that there is no thing
entering man that can divide him. That's what our Lord said. There's no thing sinful. There's
nothing, no thing in this world sinful. That's right. Romans 14, 14, he says that on
the sway of the Lord, there's nothing unclean of the self,
by the self. It's a famous pinnacle. It makes no sin. There's nothing. Sin, our Lord
said, is in us. It's in man. He said how the
heart proceeded for evil thoughts and delirious and so on and so
forth. No thing that I put in me can cause me to sin. The sin comes out of me, and
the desire and the things that make me want to do these things. All right? Is that clear? That
is clear. And I know that goes against
all levels of self-righteous piety by nature. Especially if
we came out of religion. And that just, wait a minute,
preacher, sure there's something, you know, something sinful. I don't see it. And I've given you illustrations
before. I was back in the war, the Irish war, when they did
not have morphine and things like that to sedate people, and
they were cutting off their arms. And they had to pour a gallon
of whiskey on them. Just so they could bare-handed
their arms sawed off with a saw while they were waiting. Is that simple? Come on. Come on. And all along we've judged anything. Ropes aren't bad because people
hang themselves. Things aren't bad because people
abuse them. But now this does not give us, young people, this
does not give us a license to use anything, does it? It does
not give us a license. That does not mean that we can
just go out and use anything, because we're too weak to handle
most things, because of the weakness of the flesh. You understand?
Because we're so weak and so prone to abusing things, there
are many, so many things we would be better off not touching. Do you hear me, y'all people? So many things. Because we don't
have the ability. We don't have the ability to
keep on abusing things. Every devil in here is not an
American, frankly. So, and that needs to be said. And I've always said concerning
the themes of this world, they're passing away. They're going to
pass away, every time, anyway. All right, now, 1 John 2, go
back there again. We're going to just go back and
forth here. 1 John, and a couple of verses
in the Gospel, and that's about it. 1 John 2. He said in verse
15 and 16, all that is in the world, verse 16, all that is
in the world, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life,
is not of the father. What he's talking about here
is an attitude, a spirit, in the people of the world. The thoughts, opinions, ways,
the pursuits, what is in man by nature. Now, the scripture says none
to do with good. No, not one. None. None like
it. I don't care how good somebody seems to be. God says they're
not. Our Lord said after the flood,
our Lord said this, I won't destroy man. I'm not going to destroy
man anymore by flood. Although, even though, is every thought, every thought,
imagination of his heart is only evil. Continue. And it's just the Lord's restraining
grace that keeps people from spewing out what's really in
them. So, there's none righteous, no not one. Now the scripture
divides God's people up from the world. Go to John 17. God's
Word, John 17. Scripture divides God's people
from the world, all the way through. All the way through God's Word,
there's a clear distinction between the world and God's people. They're called sheep. God's people
are called sheep. There's no sheepdoms. though
they may seem. John 17, our Lord said this about his people. Verse six, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, thou gavest to me, they have kept thy word. They
believed it and latched on to it, laid hold on it. Verse nine,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world. Couldn't be clearer, but for
them which thou hast given me. They are thine. There's no clearer distinction
of anything in God's Word than what God makes between the Word
and the things. All right? Verse sixteen. Our Lord said, They are not of
the Word, even as I am not of the Word. Okay? Are you with me? So what is the
Word? Things of the World. the people
of the world. And that includes their ways,
their thoughts, their opinions, their pursuits, their desires,
their everything that the world, the person in the world, outside
of Christ, does and thinks and so on. You've got things, and
you've got people. All right? What does it mean
to be overcome by the world? What does it mean? It's overcome
by the Word. Well, as I've already quoted
to you, that verse in 2 Timothy, where it says, Demas loved this
present world. Look with me, it's a chapter
I got out of the book, Gospel of James, here. The Gospel of
James. James, chapter 4. James chapter
4. I hope you're turning and looking. James 4. I've got, this is a
three-point passage. What is the world? What is it
to be overcome by the world? What is it to overcome the world? All right, what is it to be overcome
by the world? James chapter 4 says, in verse
4, now he's talking to here to those who Well, he's talking good words. The adulterer said, Know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. Are these, the way that
these verses get them, get them? This is God's Word. And as I began, I said, the most
dangerous thing we face is being overcome by this Word. Love not
the Word. Love not the Word. Alright? Luke
chapter 14. Keep you on your toes. Keep you
turning. Try to rightly divide a word of truth, Mary. Luke 14. When you love something
or someone... Now, there's a good kind of love
and a bad kind of love. But to love something or someone
is to... really is to be overcome by that
person or thing. You know what? To be smitten
by them. It's a good thing to love somebody,
to be smitten by them, taken with them, and in a sense consumed
with them. That's good between man and woman,
and brothers and sisters. That's good. We're told to love
one another. Christ said, Love one another.
This is my commandment. You love one another as I love
you. in your life, in service to them. But now, whenever, never love
anybody, or anything, especially anything, but do not love anybody,
or be so taken with anybody, anybody, or smitten with anybody,
or be overly concerned with anybody, more than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 14. This is what our Lord said here. Luke 14. This is so weighty. Another weighty verse. Verse
26. Verse 25. Great multitudes with him. Lots
of Jesus following him. Lots of seem-to-be-believers
following him. And he turned to them. to that
whole crowd, and said unto them, If any come there, and hate not his father and mother," we're
talking flesh and blood here, and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, He cannot be a spy. Boy, you better hope I don't
have a heart attack right now. If I'm spying on that, huh. What do you mean, hate? The Lord
said, love. Surely that's a mispronunciation. No, it's not. Now, let me illustrate
what this meant. I want to use an illustration
to tell you what our Lord meant by that. Alright? Most of you
have heard this. Brother Walter Gruber, years
ago, 35, 40 years ago, 40 years ago, Brother Walter Gruber is
now being married to Mexico. Been there all that time. He
was a young father, young husband and father. How many children
did he have at the time? Five children? Gina was a baby
in arms. Five children, okay? You know
how long it takes to feed five children. He had a job at this
Arnco Steel down in Houston, Texas. Had a home. Typical little, well back then
he had a typical family. The Lord revealed himself to
Brother Walter in that, before that, and began to call him to
preach again. And he felt led by God to go
where the gospel has not been before, as a missionary. And so he took a visit down to,
I think it was Guadalajara first, a visit with a missionary down
there, and fell in love with those Hispanic people. And it
just cemented in his mind and heart who he wanted to administer
to. And then he began to look around
where he might go and make a long story, a very long story, a 40
year story, shortly. Came back home, and told his
family I'm, we're moving to Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Take my father home, quit his
job, farm coaster, sold his house, took five babies, practically,
Cody was maybe seven, eight, and packed up and hit the road
to Mexico. barely speak any of the language
at all. And they endured terrible hardship. But before he left, his mother
and father, and I think maybe her mother and father, were just
distraught, you know, that he's doing this. Just out of rage,
distraught, everything, you know. And they told him this. They
said this to him. You don't love your family. We couldn't do this and love
her. And now do you know what I'm
going to talk about? Of course she loves me,
but the Word of God behaves. Not all Calvary needed love of
Christ. Can I tell you about Walter Knight? Can I tell you
how the Lord blessed that missionary? Can I tell you how the Lord will
bless all? He said it any man or woman.
He doesn't do that. You don't have to literally do
it. And you might not have to literally do that. And you might
not be called to be a missionary in some way. But in your mind,
in your heart, in principle, no one comes before you. I've heard of him. The Walter and Anna, all five
of his children are believed. And nearly every one of his grandchildren
are. And do you know Coby? Coby and
Winner are down there in Mexico with him. All of them left home. Talk about the empty nest syndrome.
They had five of them down there, and they all left and went thousands
of miles away. One month, Remus of the Lord
brought them back, and his grandchildren, not just my grandchildren. Well,
that's a good illustration of it. The same must be said of
us all. Not literally, at least in attitude. We are overcome by the world. How are we overcome by the world?
We're overcome by the material things of this world when we
are more interested in things, when we begin to be more interested
in things than Christ, than the gospel. What who is Christ? What
is Christ? Christ is in heaven. We can't
see him. We can't touch him. We can't
feel Him. We can't vocally talk to Him. In spirit, we can't. In prayer,
we can't. But in actuality, He's in heaven. But now His body is where? Somewhere. And He said through His Holy
Spirit that He's there, in presence, wherever the body is. Wherever
the bark body is, wherever the carcass is, eagles gather. The
eagles gather to eat. So, this is Christ. This is Christ. This is where He meets. This
is where He promised to be. This is His body. We're overcome
by the world's material things when we begin to let Things like
job or work take precedence over worship. I could not bring you a more
important message. A job. How can a person be overcome
by a job, by the things of this world, a job in this world? Well, a person takes, and my
dad will tell you more, he'll give you many more, illustrations
and I've seen a period of it, and I've seen many. Many people
have left the gospel for a high-paid job. Many. And they ended up not attending any worship in
any way. It's proved that the gospel never
was anything until the beginning. People do things like this. They
might lose a job, or where they're at, or if not that, get an offer
of a job somewhere else that's higher paying, and this is their
attitude. I'm going to take that job. Do
you know where the church is? King, God, all these things.
Where's the gospel? That's where I'm going to go
and live, no matter what it costs, no matter what I'm in. Where's
the gospel? Take the Word. Give me the Holy
Spirit. Where's the gospel? That's where
I'm going to go. That's where I'm going to move my family.
That's where I'm going to be. God will give you a job. I can give you illustration after
illustration of people, and it doesn't mean it wasn't tough,
or why. It is. It's tough for a while. It's
a test. It's a trial. But you are mine. God is going to give you an answer. You're not going to get a sacrifice
so much that God won't repay it a hundred times. He promised
that. He said, no man that hath forsaken
house and land, or father, or mother, or husband, or wife,
or sons, or daughters, or anything for my sake in the gospel, that
he won't be repaid a hundredfold in this life. That's what our
Lord said, in this life. I don't think, I mean in this
life. That's what our Lord said, in this life. seeking first that
we become overcome by the world, by the deceitfulness of riches. We overcome by this world's education. You young people, listen to me,
young people. We've got some that will be in
college before you know it. Young people that move away from
the gospel to go to a school are in danger. They're in danger
of their suffering. There are plenty of schools where
the gospel is. You don't choose a school first. You find where the gospel is.
And then he accused the student. I'm telling you, if you listen
to that girl, you just put the power in that man. Imagine, somebody like that.
Mary, I miss tomorrow. Joseph, don't even think about
going off to college somewhere where there's no gospel. Don't
do it. There's no promise that you're one of God's on the path.
Don't do it. We'll get the same education
back anywhere. He's in the fire. Possession. If we begin to be
overcome by this world, by the possessions in this world, the
things of this world, if we spend more time working to pay for
things rather than worship, we're being overcome. We're loving
this world too dearly. It's ridiculous. Can it happen? It's just the most dangerous
thing of all. I'm telling you. I wish my dad was standing here
right now, he'd tell you the same thing. It's the most dangerous.
For every one person who's left, for one reason, five have left
because of something to do, some work, job, school, some position. All right, we're overcome by
the world when we're overcome by the people of this world. I told you that there are two
things concerning the world, basically, things and people. Things and people. The world
has totally different thoughts and opinions than the people.
The people. When we begin to think like the
world, the world is full of worry, fear, fretting, they watch the
news, they believe damn radical and they do Jesus Christ. The world is murmuring, complaints,
just everything is just rotten, no good. All they got to talk
about is how bad the weather is or just how bad or When we
begin to talk and think like that, we're, you know, come by
thoughts and opinions and things of this world, modern opinion
rather than God's Word. The world, people in this
world have their own styles and ways and pursuits and so forth,
young people, and again, young people. It's going to get to the point
where it's absolutely, there's not going to be any modesty at
all anymore. None. Or it doesn't matter what anybody
does in public, how they look, or not dressed, or whatever.
It's going to get to that point. It's almost there now. Don't let that knock on you.
Don't follow that. Don't do it. When we start worrying
about what the world thinks of us, what brand of clothing we
wear, or what kind of car we drive, or so on and so forth,
we're being overcome by the word of God. We're more concerned
with what the world thinks of us than God. The people of this world Go with
me to 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. As we've noted, there is a distinction
between God's people and the people of this world. And now
we're talking about being overcome by the world. Now we're talking
about being overcome by the people of this world. talking about being overcome
by the people of this world. Now the scripture says, evil
communications corrupt good man. Evil communications corrupt good
man. Evil communications corrupt good
man. In other words, whoever you hang
around with is who rubs off on you. Now the fact If most young believers,
I was like this, a young believer ignorantly thinks that they can
influence old friends, and that if we'll just befriend
people, keep befriending them, that perhaps they'll come to
hear the gospel and believe the gospel. That is not true. What happens, and I'm telling
you this from experience, what usually happens is, at first
something may be said, occasionally may be said to an old friend
or acquaintance or whatever, may be said, and then that begins
to pass. And if that person doesn't come
to hear the gospel, Then you begin not to ever say anything
to them. And then what you're doing is denying
Christ to that person. Then what you're doing is making
that person comfortable, making them feel like everything's okay,
when in fact their soul is in danger. And if we tell somebody the truth,
really tell somebody the truth, and they still love us, we really
haven't told them the truth. Our Lord said, ye shall be hated
by all men for my name's sake. He said, they are not of the
world, therefore the world hates them. The world doesn't want
to be around them. 2 Corinthians 6, Paul, the apostle,
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, asks the question, how
can it be? How? Verse 14, be not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers. What fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? He incredulously asks the question,
what does a believer have to talk to an unbeliever about?
Fellowship around. What did they have in common? Brother Todd and I were talking. Well, I don't want to draw attention
to myself, but David said, here's what David said, I'm a companion
of him in fear of David. So David said, who are our Lord's
companions? What communion had life with
darkness? What? What concord, verse 15, I'm still
reading, what concord hath Christ with the life? What part hath
he that believeth with an inmate? What agreement hath the temple?
He keeps asking this question, what, what, what, what, what
do you got there? I've got a flesh and blood brother
that pays the gospel of Isaiah. And I don't, I don't, I can't
stand you around. I can't stand you around. Well, that happens. It happened. Matthew 10. Here's what the Lord
said to all of us. Matthew 10. Matthew 10. And this is, we all go through
this. We all indirectly think, well,
I can have a good influence over this. Well, that might be a good
attitude first, and you might have the right spirit and attitudes
first, but it doesn't end up that way. It begins with a curiosity,
and until finally you quit saying anything to that person. And
then you're denying it, and they're not hearing the truth, and they
think everything's okay. It's just a matter of difference
of religion. And they begin to influence you
rather than I do. That's right. The world has nothing... We have nothing to appeal to
unbelievers. We have nothing to appeal to
the unbelievers of this world. But now, on the other hand, there's
still a lot in this world that appeals to us. So who gives over? If the Lord doesn't convict that
person, bring him to hear the gospel. You see, there's got
to be a line drawn there. Matthew 10, look
at it. Here's what our Lord said. There's
a line drawn there, a sword with a sword, and that's the word.
Matthew 10, here's what our Lord said, verse 22. He said, you
shall be hated of all men, but my name's not. Verse 25, it's
enough of a disciple if he is his master and servant is his
Lord. If they have called the master to have the heirs above,
how much more shall they call them his household? How much
more? Verse 32, whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my
followers in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me. Verse 34, think not that I am
come to send Jesus on the earth. I can't not send peace with the
Lord. I've come to set a man at variance, a line of all the
same. A separation. Yeah, a separation. A man against his father, a daughter
against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A
man's foes should be that of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than that is not worthy of that. He that
loveth son or daughter more than that is not worthy of that. may
have married an unbelieving woman. Against God's will, what he said,
that he may have married an unbelieving woman. And after a while, like
Solomon's wife, took his heart away. Demons may have had unbelieving
children. And Paul kept preaching that
whoever it is that doesn't trust, doesn't believe Christ is lost
under the wrath of God. He loved his children too much
that he just could not, could not take the fact that perhaps
his children were lost. No, no, no, they're too good. My boy's too good. My children's
too good. He took preference over his own
family. Perhaps. He loved, loved, he loved his
wife too much, loved his job too much, loved his son too much,
didn't he? More than Christ. And could not give him up. Could
not. Would not. Would not. Our Lord said, He that taketh
not his cross and follows that which is not worthy of me, he
that findeth this life shall lose it. He that loseeth this
life. When you lose your life, you lose your life. All your
past acquaintances for the truth. All your past, whatever it may
be. Our Lord, even family, must not,
cannot take preference over Christ. Must not. Cannot. Our Lord proved
that personally. Do you think there's any man
who loved his mother more than our Lord loved Mary? No way. No way. Nobody loved his earthly parents
more than our Lord and Mother. I know this stuff. But one time
he was gathered together in worship for his people. He was preaching.
He was with his people. And his mother and his brothers
and sisters were outside. Somebody said, your mother wants
to see you. Who is my mother? Who is my brother? He said, behold, my mother is my
mother. These are the relationships,
the only ones that are going to last. There's not going to
be any family relationships in heaven. No husbands, no wives,
no fathers, no sons, no daughters. No mothers, no fathers. But we're all still going to be husbands.
This is why the Scriptures talk so much about kindling these
relationships. These are going to last. What
serves the world? Pass it away. Pass it away. Let it take the world. Give me
the Lord and His people. And if you'd ask my pastor in
50 years, the thing that most troubled him, he would tell you, I know, see,
we talk. are the associations that professing
believers have with unbelievers thus far. It's just, you can't
understand it. What are you doing? What are you talking about? And
the countless times that he has counseled young men, young women
to not marry an unbeliever, if they do it anyway, can end up
bad. Just like he said, sometimes,
though God is so merciful, so gracious, Sometimes the Lord
has mercy and saves that unbelieving man. Most of the time, not so.
Not so. Not so. So we're overcome by the people
of this world. Very easily overcome. Very easily overcome. We see
them, but we can't see Christ. The things of this world. All right, how do we overcome
the world? How do we overcome? Our Lord said back there in John
17, the Lord sanctified them, set them apart through the truth,
that word is truth. Set them apart. In our text,
go back to our text, 1 John 5, in case you forgot where our
text was. 1 John 5, how do we keep from
being overcome by the world? whether it be the things of the
world, the people of the world. Well, look at this. This is just
the fact of the matter, and I'm so thankful for this. He says
in verse four, whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.
Whatever God begins, it will prevail. I'm so thankful. If the Lord reigns, verse four,
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, our faith
Who's he to overcome, but he that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God. Only what's born of God, or really
created by God, will last. This is what John said back there.
They went out from us, but they were not of us. If they'd been
of us, they don't die, but they're continuous. Why? Because God
gave them. Whatever God does is forever. And how does he make
his people, the Word, they're born again by the interruption
of the Word. This is the Word of God. It's embedded in the
hearts of His people, and they hear it. I mean, they feel it, they hear
it, they experience it. And it begins to grow, it begins
to take fruits, it begins to manifest itself, it begins to
conform them, it begins to mold them, shape them, it begins to
direct their steps, it begins to direct their minds, it begins
to change their minds, it begins to to form a new heart. It begins only with the Word
of God. This is the power of God. Whatever is born of God
by His Word, whatever is rooted in Him, the root of the matter
is there. I'm so thankful for this. If the root of the matter
is there, whatever God does is forever. It will grow, and you
cannot run them off. Nobody can take them off. Our
Lord said, a stranger of course, they will not hear. They won't
hear. Don't be thankful. The fact of the matter is, we
do not feed ourselves. I'm so glad of that. So glad. Christ said, without me, you
can't do nothing. This is what it means to believe.
He that believeth, he's Christ. Oh, he that believeth, he that
truly knows and believes from the heart of Christ is all. Without
Him, we can do nothing. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. And we're in His hands. Oh. That's going to keep us. That's
going to keep us. This is the victory. And
that faith's of Him. It's of Him. Our Lord said this. Listen to this. He said in John
16, right before His prayer, He said to His disciples, in
the Word, in the Word, you shall have tribulation. You're going
to be torn apart. You're going to be torn between. The world's going to be pulling
at you. I'm pulled stronger. I'll draw
you towards, towards love. My hand is stronger. No man can
pluck on out of my hand. He said, in the world you shall
have tribulation. It will entice you. Come with
us. But he said, be of good cheer.
Can you quote Christopher? I have overcome the world. I
have overcome the world. Who is he that has overcome the
world? Well, first, Christ is. And he's my head, he's my security,
he's my keeper, he's my Christ. He's the one that took responsibility
for me. He said, I'll keep it. Those
that thou hast given me, I have kept. I'm so glad. If I could fall away, I'd have
fallen a long time ago, a long time ago. Thank God He keeps me. Be in good cheer. I've overcome
the world. The world hasn't found nothing
in me, nothing and no one in this world. And I did that for you, before
God, because you're going to follow Him. You are going to
seem like you're up to lots. You remember Locke's wife? Do
you remember Locke? No. Locke got like we did. Locke was living in silence.
He shouldn't have been. It should have been him. It should
have been him. He had a choice for himself.
There he is. Here's a cat. Lot's of good mood out there.
It couldn't have been him. He could have picked up his family
and say, this is a bad place to be. There's no gospel here.
There's nothing to do. It's a foul place. I'm taking
my family out of here. We're going back to my uncle
Abraham. And we're going to worship God.
It couldn't have been him. It shouldn't have been him. He
sure could have. He should have. He saved him
and his whole family. Might have saved his family. Well, after a while, you know,
he told people at first what he believed, where he's from
and all that. After a while, nobody listened
to him, they weren't going to change, so he just settled right
in. And after a while, it says, He said, we got to get out of
here. Oh, a lot of you don't get it. Come on now. Why all of a sudden? That's a bad word. And it says
that the Lord had mercy. Why did Lot get out of there?
John, how did Lot get out of Sodom? How did he escape? Did
he run out of Sodom? Because he's one of us. The Lord said, he's a just man.
You never know if you look at him. Aren't you glad he's a God
that justifies? And the Lord laid hold on him
on a real person's boat, see? A holy man or a man. And the
Lord said, now what? Go down, get, get as far away
as you can from Sodom. Don't you see? Get out of there
to the people and that place, and you're going to go down with
them. Get to the hill, run to the hill, from which comes your
help." Baptist would not say, oh, here's
a nice little city, let me go down there. Baptist don't gospel
there. Oh, but in the end, he said,
yes, the Lord dragged me down there. And he literally dragged
me down there. You say the Lord doesn't violate people's will?
He has a lot. He's sure glad that the Lord
violated his will. Drag him out. Boy, that man's
in a bad way. Don't let him be like that. Remember
God. Remember God. And our Lord kept praying in
John 17, Lord, don't... He said, God, don't... I pray
not that I should take them out of the world. And we pray that a lot, don't
we? Especially as we get older, I'm
ready to leave. Older people want to leave this
place. But you'll leave when God gets
ready for you to leave. And until then, it'll be continued.
There must be a purpose for you here. The Lord said, I pray not
that thou shouldst take him out of the world, but keep him from
it. And that's how it will be kept. I mean, He said, take the
pines, set them apart, this is what's going to separate them,
this is what's going to make the division, this is what's going
to keep them. Our Lord said, come ye apart from them, be ye
separate. Now, that doesn't mean to be like with others. He didn't
mean that. But what separates, what sanctifies
is the truth. He says, sanctify them through
the truth. You're not going to have to drive
your friends off. You're not going to have to actively
lead them. But if you really take a stand
for the gospel, they're going to, I can't take that anymore. Then you're going to see. Then
you're going to see. They're not really, they're not
worth it. They're not worth hanging around. The deed of the whole
of my mother is not worth it. The gospel will separate. I'm
going to show you your true friends from your foes, and I'm going
to close with Hebrews 10. Very quickly, let's read from
Hebrews 10. Close with me first. Oh, thank God our Lord keeps
us. Thank God our Lord has overcome the world. Thank God. Whatever
is born of God has overcome the world. Thank God. Who is he that overcometh the
world? Christ is. And without Him, I can't overcome
anything. We can't overcome anything. We
can't even quit sugar. Right? We can't quit caffeine,
let alone save our throat. We can't add one teaspoon to
our diet. We can't do anything. Nevertheless, Scripture says
things like this. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the love set
upon it. When our Lord said, pray this way, lead us not into
temptation, it means we pray, we ask Him who alone can keep
us from being overcome. We ask Him, Lord, would you keep
me from doing anything or getting in a situation that would cause
you to be tempted? That's what he said. Lord, I want to take a stand
for you. I want to confess you. I want
to deny you. I do love you. I do believe you.
I keep it. Lord, give me the courage and
open up a door of opportunity for me to say something. Let
me know. Lord, may the truth either separate or save that
person. Lord help me. Prayer is the key.
I may preach on this Sunday morning, but prayer is the key to everything.
It's the key to everything. He said things like this. Keep
yourself from idols. Keep yourself from idols. How
do you keep yourself from idols? That's easy, isn't it? Put it
down. Put it down. Get away. Don't
pursue that. Don't do that. Keep yourself
in the love of God, he said, because he was 21. Little children,
keep yourself in the love of God. Wait a minute, I thought
God loved me. He doesn't. But what does it mean to keep yourself
in the love of God? This world is full of hate and
wrath and anger and violence and all, under the wrath of God. The love of God is right here. It's right here. He can be where
the gospel is, where God's people are. You're under the love of
God. You get apart, and God's not
pleased. He's not pleased. He's not pleased. Come ye out from among them.
Keep yourselves under the gospel, where God's love is. Hebrews
10, I've read this in closing. I'm sorry I've taken so long,
but it's a very important message. Hebrews 10, let's read verses
23 on. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith. What is that? That's Christ.
Hang on to Him. What you will find out is that
He is hanging on to you. But it works both ways. Without wavering, James said,
A double-minded man is unspeakable in all his ways. You know what
you want? You know who you want? Take the world, that's a good
song to sing. Take the world, live free.